Placerville to Rio Vista: from Apple Hill country to the Delta

Placerville, the El Dorado County seat, has 10,762 residents and a median age of 46.8 (Census ACS 5-year 2024). It is the one foothill town in this set with a retriever club based in its own county.

The numbers in plain words

The drive is about 117 minutes, which is just under two hours for 87 miles. A round trip is close to four hours, so plan a full half-day or more. Estimates come from OpenStreetMap routing with no traffic.

Google lists Richard's hours as 8 AM to 2 PM Monday and Wednesday through Sunday, closed Tuesday. Call to set a time rather than guess.

A retriever club in El Dorado County

The California Retriever Training Association, a club for retriever training and field trials, is based in Cameron Park in El Dorado County (GuideStar). Its listings tie it to training grounds in Solano County, including the Denverton property near Suisun City, where Richard sometimes trains retrievers.

If you are new to the retriever world, a club is a good place to meet people who run dogs. The first hunt test guide explains what to expect, and the California hunt test calendar page shows where clubs list events.

What a Placerville owner might ask Richard

• Is my puppy ready for Puppy Camp, or should it wait?
• Is a started dog or a pup the better fit for my season?
• Can a retriever train for hunt tests and still be a hunting partner?
• How do I handle the dog after it comes home?

Programs worth reading first

The Puppy Camp page covers early work, and the Basic Waterfowl Program and Advanced Waterfowl Program pages cover the work behind the title path. Richard runs dogs and assists clients at local weekend AKC retriever hunt tests, and he has run and qualified at an AKC Master National.

With board-and-train, the dog lives and trains with Richard at Hastings Island, which saves a foothill owner from the daily two-hour drive. Plan handler lessons so you can run the dog yourself.